Narnia: the untold tale

Lucy

When the bells sounded the arrival of the latest diplomat Lucy was sitting in the private dining area. Oh yes, there was a big elegant table to entertain visitors but it was too fancy. Long and polished with knowledge of five different types of cutlery required to use it. Nothing like the one back in England with father and mother. So she found herself in the royal dining room every single time she wanted to have a simple meal. Or a cup of tea.

The last five months had been a bit of a blur. For the first one and a half months they had dealt with gathering the Narnians, establishing industries, creating a court, training a military and generally learning how to run a kingdom. Those were still very much in progress but at least there had been some time to focus solely on it. The responsibilities had been split up between the four of them but they all learned the basics together. Just in case one wasn't available another could step in with okay results. Though some of the siblings were more inclined than others and as such had gotten extra training.

The White Witch's reputation and their own forbidding forests kept news out for that amount of time. But the mountain passes had melted to allow travel so their neighbour kingdom soon found out and then all the kingdoms knew. So one month and a half-ish into their new regime ambassadors and nobles started pouring into the country. Which was a great shock for the Pevensies who, up until that point, had assumed Narnia was the only kingdom there was.

Thankfully, King Lune of Archenland was the first to arrive. Only a week before anyone else showed up he had appeared on their borders and requested an audience. As their first visitor from the outside the kings and queens were much obliged to give it to him. So they hammered out the alliances and trade agreements before anyone else could bother them. Looking back on it Lucy was glad he had showed up first. The king of Archenland was the only one to treat them like adults when he first arrived. For the others it usually took a duel with one of the boys or Susan threatening them to really start taking them seriously.

But after a couple times through that routine the four started to use their age to their advantage. Getting better trade agreements and treaties since the ambassadors didn't bother reading the fine print or were just plain caught off guard. Honestly even she knew to thoroughly read through everything.

So there was very little time for the small pleasures like a nice long bath. Or visits to Mr, Tummnus' new home as he refused to live in the castle. Along with almost no trips down to the beach and it was turning out quite miserably. Oh, she still went out to the practice courts every day and went for a ride once every week. However, there were always eyes watching and never time for the smaller things.

But back to the bell, it was loud and could hold a note quite nicely. It had been made by the dwarfs long ago from some unknown metal. Carvings and lines ringed the outside and the bell was hung in Cair Paravel's tallest tower. The first time she heard it she had dropped a cup of tea on the ground and spent the rest of the afternoon locked in her room.

All four of the siblings agreed that the volume made it almost sound like the air raids back home. Even after so long the sound still made her flinch and she often wondered if she would ever get over it. But at the moment she was in the middle of setting down some water. So with the tiny flinch that accompanied the ringing the glass slipped from her small fingers. In the back of her mind a small voice mused that this was reminiscent of the first time it had rung.

She brought her hands to her mouth as cold terror washed over her for a moment. Like back in England when you tipped your chair too far back and you could feel exactly when you reached the point of no return. Then only a second later you would crash down onto the floor. The type of horror that made your face go white even though there was nothing truly scary.

So there was a shattering sound as the cup hit the floor and broke apart. Then there was a second one off to her left only a second afterwards.

She stood frozen like that for a good long while before finally mustering up the courage to look at the damage. The cup had landed half on the thick carpet and half on the cold stone floor. As it was the carpet had absorbed some of the falling momentum and only a few pieces had completely broken off.

After seeing the remains of the cup she had dropped Lucy turned to look at what could have possibly made the second crash. With most of her fear being somewhat unfounded it gave her a great deal more courage to then before. So look she did. Over by the wall was a couple pieces of a slightly cloudy, solid object. She scampered over to touch it before drawing her fingers back, it was cold! Yet even as she watched the ice collapsed back into water in the span of a couple seconds.

A great feeling of horror welled up in her as she dipped her hand into the pool and pulled away dripping fingers. The water had a slight lemon taste to it much like the water she had been drinking only a minute earlier.

Her water had frozen solid and been whipped across the room by some unseen force as she had raised her hands to cover her eyes. There was nobody else in the room which led itself to only one conclusion. Somehow she had frozen the water. Somehow she had done something almost exactly like the White Witch when she had frozen the great river and the land of Narnia.

And that was the most terrifying thing of all.